Crunchy on the outside and with a very soft heart, baked calzone filled with sweet and sour tomato sauce and melted cheese is an excellent substitute for the classic pizza. The pizza dough is prepared simply with flour, water, yeast, and a little salt and oil.
My homemade baked calzone with cheese recipe is mostly dedicated to those who like authentic food and don’t mind jumping into the cooking process from scratch. Despite the fact it may seem a very laborious recipe, you’ll get amazed at the times and effort this calzone recipe implies. The preparation of the dough itself takes most of the time. Preparing calzone is very short in time and it is nothing else than an easy and quick recipe everyone should have pinned or saved as an alternative to the classic Saturday night pizza.
Also, the calzone is an option for the times when you have friends for dinner and you want to serve them something that can satisfy them in a bold, rustic way.
What is calzone?
The baked stuffed calzone is a rustic bundle prepared with pizza dough and stuffed with many ingredients chosen as a filling. Among the most classic fillings is the one with ham and mozzarella or tomato and mozzarella. The latter an eternal inspiration with great reference to the traditional flavor of the classic pizza Margherita. The truth is that there are no limits or prohibitions other than the ones dictated by your imagination. Depending on the seasons and the ingredients you have available in the pantry, you can choose a different filling each time, in order to have a thousand different flavor combinations.
Dough recipe for calzone
The basic recipe I used for the preparation of these stuffed baked calzones is the one I have always chosen for the preparation of my delicious homemade pizza. This Italian pizza dough recipe is for me a real guarantee of success because it always satisfies all appetites and expectations.
I always start the cooking process by preparing the yeast in the first place. For that, use ½ cup of warm water, 1 tablespoon sugar and one packet of dried yeast of 7g, and 2 tablespoons of flour good for baking pizza.
Pour the warm water in a cup and add the yeast, sugar, and flour. Do not use hot water as to not ruin the particles needed for the leavening. Stir and let rest for about15 minutes or until there’s a hat of foam on top of the mixture.
Sift the flour while the yeast is getting ready. Always sift the flour in order to get a fluffier and bubblier dough. Hence, I heartily advise sifting flour before using it.
At this point take a big bowl, put in the sifted flour along with 1 cup of water pour, and ¼ cup of olive oil. In this case, again, the water should be warm. Avoid using cold or hot water dealing with dough for pizza or bread.
Mix and knead
Now, pour the yeast composition you have prepared earlier, and mix everything. You can go through the kneading process by the old traditional way, using your hands. Or, you could use modern adjuvant such as the Kitchenaid. In any of the cases, make sure you have some flour next to you. Gradually add a little while kneading to form a dough that doesn’t stick to your hands. It is best to add small amounts of flour a few times in a row instead of adding lots at once. It is how you reach the right consistency, which a soft and flexible dough that is not sticky
Let it rest for one hour in a warm place, make sure it is covered with a cling film so for the top part to stay humid.
For more detailed instructions on how to prepare the pizza dough, click here.
Ingredients for a cheese calzone
You need the dough, the tomato sauce, and lots of your favorite cheese.
How to prepare the calzone cheese?
Now that the fluffy dough is ready and bubbly, divide it into two equal parts, and work each part once again. At this point, the dough can be stretched. Shape each piece into a disk of half an inch thickness and about 10 inches in diameter.
Now evenly spread the tomato sauce all over the area, leave out about 0.5 inches from the edges. You need the edges uncovered for it to be later on folded stuck to each other.
Sprinkle the shredded cheese only on half of the dough disk. My piece of advice is to be generous with your cheese. Feel free to mix different types of cheese. You may combine mozzarella with cheddar cheese and gorgonzola. Also, you may like the idea of adding gorgonzola with parmesan. Go for whatever combo you like most.
Now fold one part over the one filled with cheese. Now take a fork and press on the edges in order to seal the calzone. Remember that half of the inch we missed covering with tomato sauce and cheese? Well, you now know why that’s a very important instruction to respect:)
Pierce the calzone a few times using the same fork and now it is ready to be baken till golden.
How to bake cheese calzone?
Preheat oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 356. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and carefully lay the 2 stuffed with cheese calzone. Mix one tablespoon of water with one tablespoon of olive oil and grease the surface of the calzone well.
Put the calzone to bake at 356 degrees for about 15-18 minutes or until beautifully golden. The smell of freshly baked dough will betray its deliciousness.
Crunchy Cheese Calzone Recipe
Ingredients
Pizza dough
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 cups flour
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 7 g yeast dried
Calzone
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 cup mozzarella shredded
- 1/2 cup cheese at own preference
Instructions
How to make pizza/calzone dough
- Mix ½ cup of warm water, 1 tablespoon sugar and one packet of dried yeast of 7g, and 2 tablespoons of flour
- Let rest for about 15 minutes or until there’s a hat of foam on top of the mixture
- Sift the flour and put in a large bowl
- Add to the flour 1 cup of warm water, ¼ cup of olive oil, and the activated yeast
- Mix everything using a wooden spoon, or use a kitchen aid
- Work the dough by hands or by using a kitchen robot
- Let rest for 1 hour, it should double in size
How to make the cheese calzone
- Preheat oven at 356 degrees for at least 10 minutes
- Divide the dough into 2 equal parts and knead each of the pieces once again
- Roll each piece to shape a circle of 0.3-0.5 inches thick, and 10 inches in diameter
- Spread tomato sauce on the surface, leave the edges out
- Add shredded parmesan to one half of the circle
- Fold one half of the dough circle over the full part and use a fork to seal the calzone
- Bake the cheese calzone for 15-18 minutes at 356 degrees or until golden
- Take out of the oven, let rest for 5 minutes then serve with pleasure
